The Hunters

58

McNutt stared at the key. ‘It’s really that simple?’

‘It’s that simple,’ Cobb replied. ‘We needed something that wouldn’t destroy the engine or take too long to rectify, so no sugar in the gas tank. He also blocked the air intake, but that’s neither here nor there.’

‘Can’t they just bypass it?’ he asked.

Cobb looked over to Jasmine, who passed the question to Dobrev.

When the engineer finished his derisively tinged words, Jasmine said, ‘It generally translates to—’ She stuck her tongue between her lips and made a slobbering sound.

‘Russian raspberry,’ McNutt laughed. ‘I like it.’

‘Nobody knows that engine better than Dobrev,’ Cobb said. ‘I had Jasmine ask him for a favor when we started out. He tied the cylinders into a central “starter” unit. Easy to do, given the way the fuel feeds into the engine. If you don’t know how to untie and reconnect everything, the train won’t run.’ Cobb smiled appreciatively at the old engineer. ‘You might not have been able to cripple the whole thing with one key before he got his hands on it, but you can now.’

‘I’m still confused,’ Garcia said. ‘I thought there was nowhere for the train to go?’

‘If nothing else, they could have gone in reverse and stranded us,’ Cobb said. ‘That would have bought the Black Robes time to call in reinforcements.’

‘They’re nothing if not well connected,’ Jasmine said.

Cobb glanced at Dobrev. ‘You sure he won’t sit this one out?’

Jasmine shook her head. ‘He’s adamant. He says you need him. And more importantly, Ludmilla needs him!’

Cobb sighed. God save him from people who did things for love instead of money. There was no talking them into or out of anything.

Carrying a lantern that Cobb had appropriated from the train — amazingly, it still had oil inside and the wick still took a flame — they began walking the mile toward the village. As they traversed the dark woods, Cobb quietly discussed the plan of attack with McNutt. When they reached the edge of the settlement, not far from the site where the Black Robes had gone down, Cobb and McNutt checked the remaining ordnance in McNutt’s duffel bag.

‘Let me get this straight,’ Garcia said as he met them outside the village. ‘The train is crawling with Black Robes, all of whom now have access to everything remaining in the freight car armory, right?’

‘Right,’ Cobb said.

‘And you’re going to take the train back from them.’

‘Correct.’

‘There’s something back there we need,’ McNutt said. ‘Jack’s toy.’

‘No more a toy than anything you use,’ Cobb said. There was bite in his response. He enjoyed his work and his tools, but he never confused war for recreation, and he never took pleasure from it unless it was used for a purpose. ‘We’re going to teach the Black Robes the difference between someone who knows how to do this and someone who just thinks they do.’

‘Even so,’ Garcia pressed. ‘You’re severely outnumbered. What are you going to do, just hike over and take the train?’

McNutt grinned. ‘More or less.’

Borovsky saw the lantern and came over with Decebal. They weren’t sure what to expect, whether the team would be trying to make off with treasure. If they noticed that Sarah wasn’t with them, they did not mention it.

They looked like they were going to throw a fit about the flaming lantern, but Cobb, through Jasmine, cut them off with a description of his intentions. That shut them up and ensured their cooperation. Both men said they wanted to go after the train. But Cobb impressed upon them the importance of concealment and surprise — not to mention that this was not a scorched-earth mission. At least not yet. This was retake and extract.

Besides, the leader of the honor guard already had plenty to do.

‘If for some reason the Black Robes decide to come after the village,’ Cobb said, ‘you’ll have to lead the defense.’

After Jasmine translated for Borovsky who then translated for Decebal, the men agreed. With a look that was a cross between disbelief and admiration, the two men left the team to go about their business. Cobb sent Jasmine and Garcia with them. He knew they would be safer with Borovsky and Decebal than they would be with him.

It was the middle of the night when Cobb, McNutt, and Dobrev walked quietly down the incline they had ridden up just hours ago.

Dobrev was dressed in dark clothes that Decebal had supplied from the villagers when they first arrived, along with soft calfskin boots that allowed him to walk without making a sound. Cobb and McNutt wore only the long-sleeve T-shirts and matching pants, with combat boots.

None of the three wore camouflaging make-up.

McNutt kept a Russian Val assault rifle in his hands. He found it to be one of the most effective sound-suppressed guns he’d ever used. It could also hold twenty rounds and a night vision scope, which greatly improved its already impressive efficiency.

In his holster at his waist was a Heckler & Koch USP Tactical nine-millimeter automatic, complete with a specifically designed sound suppressor. He had thrown these into his duffel bag because, as he explained to Cobb, ‘I wasn’t sure if we’d have to sneak away quietly from the village in the middle of the night.’

Cobb would make do with the leftovers — the only other weapons that McNutt had stuffed in the duffel that included silencers. Those were the Ruger Mark III with built-in suppressor that McNutt had carried while hunting the first Black Robe under the train back in Moscow and an Uzi-Pro — an improved version of the Micro-Uzi, made by the Israeli military to be even smaller, lighter, and more effective than its older big brothers.

If it had come to a firefight with the honor guard in the middle of the village, the villagers wouldn’t have stood a chance. But Cobb was grateful it hadn’t come to that. These people were good, and honorable. Just because they were on a different side of a situation didn’t seem like a good reason to slaughter them. Taking their treasure, however, was an unfortunate necessity. Hopefully, it could be done without hurting anything more than their civic pride.

As for the Black Robes, they would receive no such con-sideration. They were the ones who had invited death to play at the table. It was too late to fold.

Cobb and McNutt would make sure of that.